WHERE INTERNATIONAL, INTRANATIONAL, AND DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION CONVERGE: EFFECTS OF EAST LOS HIGH, AN ENTERTAINMENT-EDUCATION WEB SERIES, ON SEXUAL DECISION-MAKING OF YOUNG LATINO/A COUPLES ON THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER
Abstract
Consider this snatch of conversation between Jacob and Jessie in East Los High, a web series produced in Hollywood and exclusively targeted to Latino/a youth in the U.S. The protagonists in this scene are Jacob and Jessie who get intimate over a study session.
Jessie: Wait, wait, wait. .. I can't do this. I like you and everything ...
but I've never. ..
Jacob: Jessie, you are a virgin?
[Jessie nods]
Jacob: Jessie, it is totally cool.
Jessie: I totally understand if you think I am lame ... and if you don't
want to hang out anymore.
Jacob: I don't think you are lame ... It's my fault. .. I kinda lost control!
'sexual decision-making is a highly complex phenomenon. The qualitative attributes of how such decision-making occurs before, during and after a highly charged sexual encounter will determine the life trajectory of young people and is applicable to youth in international, intranational, and development contexts' If the intense encounter continued without Jessie's "time out," sexual intercourse would have naturally followed. However, Jessie interrupted the
rising intensity and Jacob respected her actions and showed support. How likely is this to occur in real life between a non-fictional Jessie and Jacob? Do most girls have the courage to express their desire to "wait", and do men so easily curb their desires, letting go, and show support?
Author Biographies
Anu Sachdev earned MA degrees from University of Delhi and the University
of Texas at El Paso and presently serves as Programme Manager, PCI Media
Impact, New York, a global NGO that works in the entertainment-education
and community mobilisation space.
Arvind Singhal is the Samuel Shirley and Edna Holt Marston Endowed Professor of Communication, The University ofTexas at El Paso and Professor 2, Hedmark University College, Norway. He works in areas of entertainment
education and organising for social change.
